Urban recycling programs over recent decades have been very successful in the recycling of certain waste materials from residential units, particularly paper, plastics, beverage containers and the like, due to the roadside blue box programs. Recycling of organic wastes, such as kitchen food waste, food-soiled paper, garden clippings etc. has been more challenging. Such waste is separated, collected and delivered to composting centres. However composting centres must reject material which is contaminated with non-compostable plastic, metal or glass. Hence a great deal of care and attention is required in the separation and collection of the compostable material by the individuals involved. This is challenging for home-owners for a number of reasons. First the nature of organic waste is such that it attracts vermin and pests, and has strong odors. There is a tendency therefore to solve the problem by including organic waste with other non-recycled refuse. Also since the bag which is used to transfer the organic waste can only be included with the collected compostable material if such bag itself is compostable, there is a high incidence of the collected material being contaminated with non-compostable plastic, and a reluctance both on the part of users to use the system and composting centres to accept material from untrustworthy sources.
Currently many municipalities require separation of organic waste by single-family residential home-owners. An important factor is that the organic waste contains considerable water and is therefore a large portion, by weight, of the waste produced by a household, and landfills and other waste processing centres charge for processing by weight. However municipalities have been unwilling to include multi-unit residential buildings in such programs for a number of reasons. Such buildings are generally responsible for their own waste collection and pay for same on the basis of weight. However there is a difficulty in such buildings in ensuring the degree of education and care necessary to avoid contamination of the organic waste with non-compostable plastics or other material. For example, there is a high occurrence of residents of such buildings using non-compostable plastic grocery bags to collect, store and transfer the organic waste due to the cost of compostable bags. This results in much higher waste disposal costs for multi-unit residential buildings.
A further problem faced in operating organic waste recycling in multi-unit residential buildings relates to the “transition gap”. This is the distance between each multi-unit residential dwelling unit and a central deposit location for organic waste. In current systems residents transport the loose organic waste in a bucket to the central deposit area. The result is spills and leaks. Without proper containment, organic waste being transported to the central deposit area can spill or leak in common hallway areas and/or stairwells. Further if using an unlined organic waste collection kitchen bin to transport the organic waste to the central deposit area, residents must make a two-way trip, returning their soiled bin to their dwelling unit, rather than dropping the waste off on the way out of the building.
There is therefore a need for improved systems for separating, collecting and transferring organic waste from multi-unit residential buildings to deliver to composting centres which reduce contamination of the organic waste with non-compostable material. There is a further need for systems which can address the transition gap problem in operating organic waste recycling in multi-unit residential buildings.
As noted, traditional material and organic recycling through composting contribute to environmentally sustainable practices which are now mandated in many communities. Many landfills are nearing capacity and programs to divert materials from landfills must be put in place to extend the life of the landfill to avoid closures. New landfills are very difficult to site and permit, particularly near urban areas. Zero Waste Programs serve to mitigate the landfill development problem. Local and regional governments are therefore now implementing zero waste plans and are specifically calling for business community involvement in organic waste (food scraps) diversion and material recycling.
Diverting organic material and food scraps from landfills contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas, a major contributor of global warming. Landfills account for 17% of methane gas emissions and are a major source of human-related greenhouse gas emissions in North America. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that results when organic materials such as food scraps biodegrade in a landfill setting. In 2010, 250 million tons of municipal waste was generated in the USA alone. Organics, food scraps and recyclable materials account for as much as two-thirds of the waste currently being disposed of in landfills. Less than 2.8% of the 85 million tons of food scraps were diverted in 2010. Food scraps remain the largest discarded material category in the US municipal waste stream.
There is a significant cost advantage to diverting organic waste and food scraps from the landfill. Landfill tipping fees may be in excess of $100.00 per ton while commercial compost tipping fees can be as low as $40.00/ton for a savings of $60.00/ton. As an example, large grocery stores produce about 20 tons of waste weekly, of which about 17 tons can be diverted to composting. Multi-store grocery chains can realize significant financial savings by diverting their organic waste and thereby reduce their carbon footprint.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related thereto are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.